GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz.― Center for Biological Diversity Executive Director Kierán Suckling issued the following statement in response to Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s (D-Ariz.) announcement today of plans to introduce legislation to permanently ban new uranium mining across 1 million acres of public lands surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.

“Grand Canyon National Park’s centennial is a timely occasion for legislation permanently protecting the park’s aquifers, springs and adjacent lands and watersheds from dangerous uranium mining. The Grand Canyon is an international icon, the sacred homeland to regional American Indian tribes, and a cradle of biological diversity and endemism. In a region afflicted by seven decades of dangerous uranium pollution, this legislation is historic. We commend Congressman Grijalva and tribal leaders not just for their work to bring forward this legislation, but for years of leadership protecting the Grand Canyon region from more dangerous uranium mining.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.